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Falcons vow not to harm Jamie Blamire's England chances

Jamie Blamire /PA

Newcastle boss Dave Walder insists the club are not harming Jamie Blamire’s chances of adding to his six England caps as a hooker by using him at flanker to solve an injury crisis.

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Blamire played flanker in the Premiership opening round 40-31 loss to Harlequins and with Newcastle’s back row injury worries still a factor, he could be pressed into service in the back row again with the Falcons heading to champions Leicester. Walder, the director of rugby, has George McGuigan starting at hooker and his impressive try-scoring brought him 27 in all competitions last season and he got another two against Quins. That try-scoring power has restricted Blamire’s chances at club level despite Eddie Jones picking him for England.

Blamire’s own try-scoring exploits for England – he has grabbed six – has raised his profile and Jones is known to favour players who can adapt to different positions. Wasps Alfie Barbeary has given up hopes of making it as a test hooker and is now pulling up trees as a back row forward. However, Walder does not see Blamire having to follow that pathway to regular selection for club and country.

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He said: “It is a temporary measure and, fundamentally, Jamie is a brilliant rugby player and is the most exciting and dynamic forward we have. He has played hooker for England we would be foolish not to use him there but he has done a more than adequate job of filling a role in the back row.

“He plays like a back row from hooker and is very good over the ball. He has England aspirations at hooker and we spoke to him about moving to the back row and said if that got him on the pitch then he would do it. Once our back row boys are back we will seem him at hooker. George McGuigan is for me is one of the top two or three hookers in the league and is probably more of a hooker who likes the tight play while Jamie is so mobile and loves the fast and loose stuff.

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“We are very lucky to have those options in the front row. Having the involvement with England has seen a mindset shift from Jamie and he realises what is required to stay up there. He could be an even more outstanding hooker than he already is which is good for us. We are open and honest with both of them and George was our Player of the Year but there were times when we probably kept him on too long. We gave two international class hooker and have to make sure we use them both based on who we are playing. At one point last season Jamie had played more minutes for England than the club.

“Hopefully, we will get a couple of back row boys back this weekend but we will have to wait to see about Carl Fearns.”

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JW 2 hours ago
'I feel for the players': Jamie Joseph's reflection on falling short again

Some great leadership quality from Big Jim, he facilitated for large parts then put the responsibility on himself at the end drive the team forward in the last desperate minutes. He also filled in for Withy extremely well, adding real strength to the maul.


The Force have been playing very well this year indeed, and their stars did make a couple of key players, the main factor though is definitely what I reported in the previous article “

Gotta say I’m really enjoying the Highlanders desperation in the last 10 minutes of games, maybe it’s just because theyre having to throw the kitchen sink at it again. Another massive effort to hold the opposition out just like in the Blues game. I’m sure the coach’s will be wanting a little more composure though as the play seems to far more hap hazard (really just the type of footy I like watching) than the picture they bring at the beggining of games.

Again though they don’t have the refs to thank for anything, being down a man twenty more minutes than they should have been. Most importantly they were without one of they best attackers (not counting Tangitau’s early change) for the final push, with Nareki’s bin.

Again, I can see where this team is trying to go, I hope they can get their this year as they certainly have the game to be a top four team if they click. They are munch of misfits when you look at it objectively though, they probably have the worst cohesion score of any SRP team. A few more wins, maybe a come from behind upset may be the best theey can hope to acheive this year.

“. Like Jim I thought the defence stood up strongly for large parts, but they may just have some structural issues, where it’s just not paying off. They had Lawaqa on the wing all day, allowed the Force to make a dozen linebreaks, why? Both there attack and defence look a bit too fancy for me, why? Common Joseph, the youngest team with the least cohesion/most new guys, it look overly complicated.


I hope it clicks. Manson in particular looked to be trying far too hard when he came on, what’s been said in his ear? Stick to you lane son and don’t make any mistakes, don’t lose the game for your team. Should be a comfortable win next week against Drua if they keep there heads up and come back stronger. Lasaqa might be best to come off the bench, would keep Jim at 12 but I’d like Tele’a to come back to the side, though TUJ hasn’t been bad and style might suit Drua more. Hopefully Renton or someone with some size is at 8 or 6, Lasaqa appears to be more an 8 actually, similar to Sititi and I wouldn’t mind if he was groomed behind him and Sotutu. Lennox I thought could make a good halfback but isn’t ready, I’d hope Arscott, Fakatava, or Pledger could return to the side. Other than Drua theyve got Cheifs twice, though the home game is the last of the round/season so potentially a gimme if the Chiefs repeat previous years tactics. The Crusaders and Moana at home are also very doable. Those four wins could see them crash into the top 6 still.

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